RVPI (residual value to paid-in capital): formula, calculator and VC data
What is RVPI?
RVPI (residual value to paid-in capital) is the current value of what a fund still holds divided by the capital its investors have paid in: RVPI = NAV ÷ paid-in capital. It is the unrealized part of TVPI, since TVPI = DPI + RVPI, so it rises while a fund invests and falls to zero as it sells.
Key facts
- The GIPS standards call RVPI the unrealized multiple: "Residual value divided by since-inception paid-in capital." (GIPS, 2020)
- Over a fund's life, "the RVPI will increase to a peak and then decrease as the fund matures and eventually liquidates to a residual market value of zero." (GIPS, 2005)
- The median 2017-vintage US VC fund on Carta has a 1.64x TVPI and a 0.31x DPI, so roughly 1.33x, about four-fifths of its value, is still unrealized after nine years (our arithmetic). (Carta, Q1 2026)
- Venture LP stakes sold in the secondary market at 79% of NAV in the first half of 2026, against 91% for buyout. (Jefferies, Jul 2026)
- Buyout firms are sitting on 32,000 unsold companies worth $3.8 trillion, Bain estimates. (Bain, 2026)
RVPI calculator
Enter what LPs have paid in, what the fund has paid back and what its remaining holdings are worth. The calculator shows RVPI next to DPI and TVPI, and how much of the fund's total value is still waiting to be sold.
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How to calculate RVPI
RVPI = NAV ÷ Paid-in capital = TVPI − DPI
In words: take the current value of everything the fund still holds and divide by everything investors have paid in.
- NAV: Net asset value, or residual value: the current estimated value of the holdings, as marked by the manager.
- Paid-in capital: Everything LPs have contributed so far, management fees included. Not the commitment, which may not all be called yet.
Worked example
The same illustrative $50M fund as on our TVPI and DPI pages, in its seventh year. LPs have paid in 90% of their commitments, fees included. The results below are computed by the calculator's tested code.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Paid-in capital (90% of $50M called) | $45,000,000 |
| Distributions to LPs so far | $18,000,000 |
| Net asset value of the remaining holdings | $54,000,000 |
RVPI: 1.20x TVPI: 1.60xDPI: 0.40xShare of value already in cash: 25.0%
TVPI = (18,000,000 + 54,000,000) ÷ 45,000,000 = 1.60x = DPI 0.40x + RVPI 1.20x
RVPI of 1.20x is three quarters of the 1.60x TVPI. Sold today at 79% of NAV, the price venture LP stakes fetched in the first half of 2026, the $54M of holdings would bring about $42.7M, and TVPI would drop to 1.35x (our arithmetic).
In a spreadsheet
- RVPI, with NAV in B3 and paid-in capital in B4: =B3/B4
- RVPI from TVPI in C1 and DPI in C2: =C1-C2
- Share of total value still unrealized, with distributions in B2: =B3/(B2+B3)
How founders and investors read RVPI
If you're the founder
- Until your investors sell, your company is part of their RVPI, usually at your last round's price. A down round or a write-down cuts their RVPI directly; a strong round lifts it, but only on paper.
- LPs discount paper. Venture LP stakes fetched 79% of NAV in the first half of 2026 (Jefferies), so a fund with a high RVPI and little cash returned is under pressure to find liquidity.
- That pressure is where requests to sell early-investor shares in your next round come from. Planning for it makes the conversation easier.
Questions you'll be asked
- What would a fair valuation be today, and on what comparables?
- When is your next priced round likely, and could it be a down round?
- Would you support a secondary sale for early investors?
- Who are the likely acquirers, and on what timeline?
If you're the investor or LP
- RVPI is the part of a fund's return that can still change. Ask how each holding is valued: for venture marks, Carta found "There is no widely accepted industry standard" (Carta, 2024).
- Read it with the fund's age. It should rise while the fund invests and trend toward zero as it sells; a mature fund with a high RVPI either holds a late winner or hasn't been able to sell.
- Price it before you count it: secondary buyers paid 79% of NAV for venture stakes in the first half of 2026.
Questions to ask a GP
- Which holdings make up most of the RVPI?
- How is each one valued, and when was it last marked?
- Has any recent secondary sale or financing tested those marks?
- What is the exit plan for the largest positions, and by when?
- Is any of the NAV pledged against a fund-level loan?
What is a good RVPI?
There is no public RVPI benchmark by vintage that we can reproduce, so we derive one: RVPI ≈ TVPI − DPI from the same dataset. Medians don't subtract exactly, so treat the results as indicative. What matters is the trend with age: RVPI should be high early and close to zero at the end.
Show the numbers
| Vintage | Median DPI (cash) | Median TVPI (cash + paper) |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 0.31x | 1.64x |
| 2018 | 0.15x | 1.40x |
| 2019 | 0.02x | 1.24x |
| 2020 | 0.01x | 1.12x |
| 2021 | 0.00x | 1.04x |
| 2022 | 0.00x | 1.08x |
| 2023 | 0.00x | 1.00x |
| 2024 | 0.00x | 0.97x |
Benchmarks
| Segment | Measure | Typical | Top quartile | As of | Sample | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US VC funds (Carta), median RVPI derived · Our arithmetic, median net TVPI minus median DPI from Carta's Q1 2026 table. Medians don't subtract exactly, so these are indicative. | ||||||
| 2017 vintage | Median RVPI (derived) | ≈1.33x (81% of TVPI) | — | Q1 2026 | 131 funds | Carta, Q1 2026 |
| 2018 vintage | Median RVPI (derived) | ≈1.25x (89% of TVPI) | — | Q1 2026 | 191 funds | Carta, Q1 2026 |
| 2019 vintage | Median RVPI (derived) | ≈1.22x (98% of TVPI) | — | Q1 2026 | 229 funds | Carta, Q1 2026 |
| 2020 vintage | Median RVPI (derived) | ≈1.11x (99% of TVPI) | — | Q1 2026 | 253 funds | Carta, Q1 2026 |
| 2021 vintage | Median RVPI (derived) | ≈1.04x (all of TVPI) | — | Q1 2026 | 545 funds | Carta, Q1 2026 |
| 2022 vintage | Median RVPI (derived) | ≈1.08x (all of TVPI) | — | Q1 2026 | 526 funds | Carta, Q1 2026 |
| What secondary buyers pay for remaining value · Prices for LP stakes as a share of the funds' NAV. The discount is what it costs to turn RVPI into cash early. | ||||||
| Venture LP interests | Price as % of NAV | 79% | — | H1 2026 | Jefferies' view of the LP secondary market | Jefferies, Jul 2026 |
| Buyout LP interests | Price as % of NAV | 91% | — | H1 2026 | Jefferies' view of the LP secondary market | Jefferies, Jul 2026 |
| All LP portfolios | Average price as % of NAV | 87% | — | H1 2026 | Jefferies' view of the LP secondary market | Jefferies, Jul 2026 |
After about nine years, roughly four-fifths of the median 2017-vintage fund's value on Carta is still unrealized (our arithmetic).
Venture remaining value trades at a deeper discount than buyout: 79% of NAV against 91% in the first half of 2026.
Compiled Oct 2, 2026. Next review: December 2026, after Carta's Q3 2026 release. Left out: Cambridge Associates (Its RVPI and DPI tables by vintage are for clients only, and its licence bars reuse of its benchmark figures); PitchBook benchmarks (Available to PitchBook clients only). Download these benchmarks as CSV.
RVPI in the wild: how much is left to sell, ten years on
Four CalPERS private equity commitments from 2013 and 2015, as CalPERS reported them as of 31 March 2026. Remaining value, DPI and RVPI are our arithmetic from CalPERS's figures. (CalPERS, Mar 2026)
| Fund (vintage) | Cash in | Cash out | Remaining value | DPI | RVPI | Net IRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlyle Partners VI, L.P. (2013) | $597.1M | $1.15B | $32.9M | 1.92x | 0.06x | 15.8% |
| Silver Lake Partners IV, L.P. (2013) | $380.4M | $709.4M | $321.9M | 1.86x | 0.85x | 20.2% |
| Insight Venture Partners IX, L.P. (2015) | $105.7M | $287.8M | $131.5M | 2.72x | 1.24x | 22.6% |
| Patria Brazilian Private Equity Fund V, L.P. (2015) | $155.1M | $47.7M | $188.3M | 0.31x | 1.21x | 7.4% |
Carlyle Partners VI, thirteen years in, has almost nothing left to sell: RVPI 0.06x. Silver Lake Partners IV, the same vintage, still holds 0.85x on top of the 1.86x it has paid out. The two 2015 funds hold about the same RVPI for opposite reasons: Insight IX has already returned 2.72x and is still holding winners, while Patria's fund has returned 0.31x and most of its 1.5x is still a mark.
Remaining value is each manager's own estimate, and CalPERS notes "there is generally a 2-quarter delay in performance reporting." Cash in and cash out are CalPERS's "actual cash flows".
RVPI vs DPI, TVPI, NAV, IRR and MOIC
| Metric | Answers | Ignores | Use it when | It misleads when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RVPI | Value still held per dollar LPs paid in | Cash already returned, and whether the marks will hold | Sizing what is left to realize | Marks are stale, or it's read without DPI |
| DPI | Cash returned per dollar paid in | Value still held | Judging a mature fund, or what LPs can spend | Early in a fund's life |
| TVPI | Cash returned plus value still held, per dollar paid in | How much of it is still paper | Tracking a fund against its vintage | Marks are stale or optimistic |
| NAV | The dollar value of what the fund still holds | How much was paid in to get there | Sizing exposure or pricing a secondary sale | Compared across funds of different sizes |
| IRR | Annual rate of return, timing included | How much money was made | Comparing speed, or testing a required return | Most of it rests on marks |
| MOIC | Value per dollar invested in deals, usually gross | Fees, carry and time | Judging a deal or a portfolio | Set against a fund's net RVPI |
RVPI = TVPI − DPI. Over a fund's life, value moves out of RVPI and into DPI as holdings are sold; when the last one is gone, RVPI is zero and TVPI equals DPI.
Common mistakes: how RVPI gets flattered
- Counting it as cash. RVPI is an estimate of what holdings would fetch, and buyers pay less: 79% of NAV for venture LP stakes in the first half of 2026 (Jefferies).
- Ignoring the fund's age. High RVPI is normal early and a warning late. Carta: "RVPI trends toward zero as the remaining portfolio companies are sold" (Carta, 2025).
- Trusting stale marks. Marks lag. CalPERS notes "there is generally a 2-quarter delay in performance reporting", and a mark set at a 2021 round may not survive the next one.
- Reading it without DPI. The same RVPI can mean a fund still holding winners or one that hasn't sold anything. Insight IX and Patria V both hold about 1.2x, after returning 2.72x and 0.31x (see the case study above).
- Expecting 1x at the start. Fees come out of called capital before anything grows. Carta: "It's common for RVPI to be slightly below 1.0x initially" (Carta, 2025).
Where RVPI came from and how it's regarded today
| When | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 2026 | Samir Kaji warns that "a lot of today's marks will turn out to have been fiction". | Kaji, 2026 |
| Jul 2026 | Venture LP stakes trade at 79% of NAV in the secondary market, against 91% for buyout. | Jefferies, Jul 2026 |
| 2026 | Bain counts 32,000 unsold buyout companies worth $3.8 trillion. | Bain, 2026 |
| Oct 2025 | Carta's RVPI guide describes it rising during the investment period and trending toward zero at wind-down. | Carta, 2025 |
| Nov 2024 | Carta on marking venture holdings: "There is no widely accepted industry standard." | Carta, Nov 2024 |
| Sep 2024 | Sapphire's Beezer Clarkson: "interim marks are just that - interim". | Clarkson, 2024 |
| 2020 | The 2020 GIPS standards define RVPI as the unrealized multiple, required for any pooled fund with committed capital. | GIPS, 2020 |
| 2005–06 | The GIPS private equity provisions describe RVPI rising to a peak and falling to zero over a fund's life. | GIPS, 2005 |
How it's regarded today
- A record backlog. Bain: "the industry is still sitting on 32,000 unsold companies worth $3.8 trillion" (Bain, 2026).
- Priced below the marks. Venture pricing rose "to 79% of NAV in H1 2026", still well below buyout's 91% (Jefferies, Jul 2026).
- Paper ahead of cash. AngelList: "Paper marks are recovering faster than cash is coming back to LPs" (AngelList, Sep 2026).
- Marks under suspicion. Practitioners now say openly that some of today's marks won't hold; see Samir Kaji's quote below.
- Interpretive Guidance for Private Equity (GIPS, 2005). How RVPI behaves over a fund's life, rising to a peak and falling to zero.
- Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) for Firms (GIPS, 2020). The standard definition of RVPI and when firms must present it.
- Global Secondary Market Review (Jefferies, Jul 2026). What secondary buyers pay for venture, buyout and other fund stakes as a share of NAV.
- VC Fund Performance: Q1 2026 (Carta, Q1 2026). The TVPI and DPI by vintage from which we derive median RVPI.
What experts say about RVPI
“We're somewhere in the late innings of this phase, and a lot of today's marks will turn out to have been fiction.”
“First, it's important to remember that interim marks are just that - interim.”
“Nothing is done until there are distributions.”
Where they disagree
Two investors on how to mark what a fund still holds.
“If you're in it for the long game, you ought to be conservative on markups and conservative on markdowns … Your LPs will question your credibility if you're trying to mark things up in a way that's too aggressive.”
“While this might still be ‘proper’ for accounting purposes, a few realities have evolved in recent years which make it a handicap for newer early stage managers to properly demonstrate the strength of their progress to their LPs (existing and prospective).”
RVPI FAQ
What is RVPI in private equity and venture capital?
RVPI stands for residual value to paid-in capital. It is the current value of what a fund still holds divided by the capital its investors have paid in. It is the part of TVPI that has not been returned as cash yet, and the GIPS standards call it the unrealized multiple.
How do you calculate RVPI?
Divide the fund's net asset value by the capital LPs have paid in: RVPI = NAV ÷ paid-in capital. Or subtract DPI from TVPI. A fund that has called $45M and holds $54M of investments has an RVPI of 1.20x.
What is a good RVPI?
It depends on the fund's age. Early on, a high RVPI is normal because nothing has been sold. Late in a fund's life, RVPI should be small: on Carta, the median 2017 fund still holds about four-fifths of its value after nine years, which is why LPs press for distributions.
What is the difference between RVPI and DPI?
DPI is the cash already returned per dollar paid in; RVPI is the value still held. They add up to TVPI. As a fund sells holdings, value moves from RVPI to DPI.
Why is RVPI below 1x early in a fund's life?
Because fees and setup costs come out of the capital called before the investments have grown. Carta notes it is common for RVPI to start slightly below 1.0x for that reason.
Is RVPI the same as NAV?
No. NAV is a dollar amount, the estimated value of the remaining holdings. RVPI divides it by the capital LPs have paid in, so funds of different sizes can be compared.
Can RVPI be converted to cash at face value?
Rarely before the holdings are sold. LPs who sell their stakes early usually take a discount: venture LP interests traded at 79% of NAV in the first half of 2026, according to Jefferies.
Related metrics and guides
Sources
Every link was opened and checked. Archived copies guard against links that move or disappear.
Primary data
- VC Fund Performance: Q1 2026. Carta (Peter Walker, Kevin Dowd), 4 Jun 2026. Vendor data from Carta-administered funds. Archived copy
- Recent VC vintages struggle with a dip in TVPI—and with how to value their investments. Carta (Kevin Dowd), 5 Nov 2024. Vendor data from Carta-administered funds. Archived copy
- Fund Benchmarks: A Mid-Year 2026 Refresh. AngelList (Abe Othman), 4 Sep 2026. Vendor data; full report gated. Archived copy
- Private Equity Program (PEP) Fund Performance Review. CalPERS, As of 31 Mar 2026. Archived copy
- Global Secondary Market Review. Jefferies, Jul 2026. Survey by a secondaries adviser; no archived copy found.
Standard
- Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) for Firms. CFA Institute (GIPS), Effective 1 Jan 2020. Archived copy
- Interpretive Guidance for Private Equity. CFA Institute (GIPS), Effective 1 Jan 2005. Archived copy
Consultancy
- Global Private Equity Report 2026. Bain & Company, Mar 2026. Full report PDF. Archived copy
Practitioner
- RVPI Explained: The Key to Interim Fund Performance. Carta, 6 Oct 2025. Vendor explainer. Archived copy
- Crazy, and Rational: Venture's Cognitive Dissonance Moment. Samir Kaji (Venture Unlocked), 6 Jul 2026. Newsletter opinion; no archived copy found.
- Post on early DPI and Carta's fund data. Beezer Clarkson (LinkedIn), 11 Sep 2024. LinkedIn post. Archived copy
- SAFE Adjusted TVPI: How Early Stage VCs Should Communicate SAFE Note Markups to their LPs. Hunter Walk (blog), 6 Jun 2026. Practitioner opinion. Archived copy
Changes to this page
- · Major · Page published. Data as of Q1 2026 (Carta) and H1 2026 (Jefferies), compiled 2 October 2026.
Cite this page
Dominique Bouillet, "RVPI (residual value to paid-in capital): formula, calculator and VC data", CX Cash, updated Oct 13, 2026, https://cxcash.com/metrics/rvpi
CX Cash builds software for founders and investors. This page is education, not investment advice. Third-party figures link to their source, and our own arithmetic and illustrative examples are labelled as such.